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Tories to lose three B.C. stalwarts

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will no longer have his western MPs Stockwell Day (left) and Chuck Strahl (centre) when he calls an election. They and fellow MP John Cummins announced Saturday they won't run again.

OTTAWA — Two cabinet ministers and a veteran Conservative MP — all from British Columbia — have announced their names will not be on the ballot, whenever the writ drops.

The news, which came Saturday amid increasing speculation that a federal election may be triggered in as little as two weeks, indicates the Conservatives are anticipating an election will soon be called, said Kathy Brock, a political-science professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

Election rumours have been fuelled by the imminent budget announcement and House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken’s rulings last week that were critical of the Conservatives.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper thanked Transport Minister Chuck Strahl, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day and MP John Cummins for their “extraordinary dedication to public service throughout the years.”

The departure of these three Conservative stalwarts means there will be four new Tories on the ballots in B.C., after Jay Hill retired form politics in October 2010.

Harper lost another western cabinet minister, Calgary’s Jim Prentice, in November of last year.

In an interview Saturday night, Day said he determined several months ago not to run again. He also said he knew that Strahl and Cummins were standing down — but he did not know they would announce their exits on the same day he did.

Day said he wanted to leave ample time to nominate candidates in his riding.

It takes time to nominate a candidate, and they want to be ready,” he said. "There could be an election soon . . . It appears the opposition parties are trying to force one."

Hill, who was Government House Leader when he stepped down, said Saturday that with three of B.C.’s five ministers now gone or leaving, Harper has an opportunity to put a fresh, new face on his cabinet.

“It’s a natural thing,” he said. “Of course, you don’t want to lose all your veterans at once, but I think it’s a good thing to have some renewal from time to time.”

To the opposition Liberals though, the announcements are evidence the Tories have been planning for a snap election call.

“I think this shows that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been preparing to pull the plug on his minority government,” said B.C. Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh.

“But he’s lost a lot of depth on his bench in British Columbia. He losing two of his big names in B.C.”

Echoing Hill and Dosanjh, Brock said the announcements provide a great opportunity to bring new blood to the Conservative Party, but also indicate that the party is getting ready for the writ to drop.

“It looks like they’re leaning toward an election call being made, whether it’s forced by the opposition, or whether they force the opposition to make the call,” Brock said. “I think this also signals that the Conservatives feel secure enough in B.C., that they can let some of their key people go and bring new faces in.”

Both Strahl and Day have been able to maintain a good presence in B.C., a province where the Conservatives have been trying to build support, Brock said.

“But if you look at the polls in B.C., Conservative support has been steady,” she said. “If there was a good time for him to step down, this is probably it. The Conservatives can now put someone in those ridings and they’ll have momentum going into the election.”

When Day closes the door on politics, he will bring to an end a career that has spanned a quarter of a century, taking him through provincial and federal legislatures, where he led the Canadian Alliance, later becoming a senior Tory cabinet minister and holding three high-profile portfolios.

Day spent 14 years in provincial government and almost 11 years at the federal level — years Harper described as inspirational. But, in Day’s written words, “It is time to move on,” he said.

Strahl was first elected to a federal seat in the 1993 election, when he was voted to represent his B.C. riding as a member of the Reform Party, which later became the Canadian Alliance. He eventually managed three ministerial portfolios, including agriculture and transport.

But before that, in 2001, Strahl led a group of Alliance members who opposed Day’s role as leader, which led to Day agreeing to step aside as leader and to allow for another leadership race. Although he did run again, he was defeated by Harper, who swiftly gave the former leader a position in the shadow cabinet.

Cummins’ time in federal politics stretches back to 1993, when he was elected to Parliament as a member of the Reform Party.

“He has made an important contribution to Parliament, to our party and, in the last five years, our government,” Harper said in a statement. “He has earned enormous respect for his work.”

Day said he wasn’t sure what he’ll do next.

"I don’t have one firm, specific landing spot," he said. But after so long in the public eye, “I don’t think it can ever be a private life . . . Private life has never been on my lexicon. I’ll be active."

aminsky@postmedia.com

Twitter.com@amyminsky

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